This no bean keto chili recipe is my favorite low carb comfort food for colder days. It’s a warming and very satisfying meal with the perfect vegetables-to-meat ratio that can be made in under 30 minutes.
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Chili is my favorite dish to make during the winter months, but when I was making it with beans, I felt super bloated afterward despite draining and rinsing them like crazy before adding them to the pot. Nowadays, I don’t have to worry about all that stuff, because I don’t eat beans anymore. Actually, you don’t need beans to make an amazingly tasty chili - I’m going to show you how!
Step by step directions
We start cooking our beanless chili by sautéing the onions and garlic with a generous amount of butter (I used 3 tbsp) in a deep pot over a medium-high heat. When they pick up some color, add the bell peppers and cook briefly, then add your ground beef. Using a spatula or a spoon, crumble the ground beef and add all your spices and salt. It’s difficult to figure out how much salt is enough at this stage of cooking, so we might add some extra salt later.
When the ground beef is completely browned, add the strained tomatoes and chipotle paste and stir well. I use strained tomatoes for this recipe because of their amazing texture and flavor. They will also give your low carb chili a beautiful red-ish color, as well as a thick and rich consistency! But you can use tomato puree if that’s what you prefer, or if you can’t find strained tomatoes in your local grocery store.
Bring the chili to a light simmer, taste it, and add extra salt if needed. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and let it cook for 20 mins.
Serve hot with some sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped avocados, cilantro, and lime wedges.
Is no-bean chili keto
Beans are the main source of carbs in chili. So, no beans mean low-carb content! One portion (without toppings) of our amazing low carb chili has 11g net carbs, which might sound too much for a keto dish, but it depends on what else you eat during the day and how well you've adapted to burning fats instead of glucose. Beanless chili can definitely become a part of your tasty keto diet plan!
Are tomatoes keto
Since this recipe calls for quite a lot of strained tomatoes, I decided to answer the question of whether or not tomatoes are a keto-friendly food. I probably sound like an old record in almost every blog post, repeating that being keto depends on so many factors. You can eat bread and still be in ketosis if you count your carbs. But, personally, I prefer a whole food approach when it comes to a low carb or keto diet. I love my butter, nuts and seeds, different kinds of meat, seafood, and - of course - eggs. But I also like my veggies and tomatoes in particular!
That being said, 100g of raw red tomatoes contain about 2.7g net carbs; 100g of strained tomatoes have 4g, which makes these two keto-friendly foods.
Serving ideas
I love to top up my keto chili with different toppings: sour cream, cheese, lime, and cilantro are my favs, but you can also use avocados! However, if you follow a strict paleo diet, dairy products are a big no-no for you. But don’t worry, this recipe is absolutely delicious without any cheese at all! You can even substitute sour cream with some full-fat coconut cream, for paleo chili version.
Also, I encourage you to try my keto chili recipe with these little snacks if you want something crunchy on the side:
Or you can serve it with my KETO GRILLED CHEESE if you feel extra hungry.
More low carb recipes
CREAMY KETO BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP RECIPE
HEALTHY KETO ZUPPA TOSCANA SOUP
Recipe
No bean keto chili
Ingredients
- 650 g lean ground beef (1.5lb)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt
- 800 g strained tomatoes (28oz)
- 2 teaspoon chipotle paste
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
FOR GARNISHING
- Sour cream
- Cilantro, chopped
- Shredded cheese of your choice, I use Gouda cheese
- Avocado, choped
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a deep pot over a medium-high heat, add the garlic and onions, and cook until slightly browned. Then, add the bell peppers and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the ground beef to the pot and crumble it using a spatula. Add all spices, salt to taste, and cook until the beef is browned.
- When the ground beef is completely browned, add the strained tomatoes and chipotle paste and stir well.
- Bring the chili to a light simmer, taste it, and add extra salt if needed. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid, and let it cook for 20 min.
- Serve hot with some sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped avocados, cilantro, and lime wedges.
Notes
This website, https://heretocook.com, offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is a product of online calculators such as Cronometer.com and MyFitnesPal.com
Peter
Thanks for the recipe! It's delicious 🙂
Anna
Thank you, Peter!